"jimmy fallon" happening right this morning on "early today" -- mixed signals. new polls show a republican edge, but democrats are on a rebound ahead of next month's election. a lethal wedge of toxic sludge pours into several villages in india. and lethal impact. a woman survives a horrifying collision. captions paid for by nbc-universal television hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pick time zone. i'm lynn berry, and today we begin with closing the gap.

new numbers from a "washington post" abc poll show the majority of voters still prefer the republican kand in their district's mid-term election but with democrats finally gaining ground, the fight to the finish is finally over. tracie potts has the latest. >> reporter: lynn, good morning. the question, is the tide beginning to turn at all? at least a little in favor of democrats just weeks before election day. look at these results from the new abc news, "washington post" poll. it shows that republican candidates still have a 6% edge, but that's down by more than half from just last month. a similar finding in our latest nbc poll. what seems to be working for republicans is they have energized their base. 77% of republicans say they are certain to go out and vote, while only 61% of democrats say that. what could make a difference in this election? the ads.

the tv ads. not by the parties themselves but by private groups that are aligned with the parties. in fact, two groups that back republicans who say they're spending another $4 million coming up on ads. they've already spent $14 million on ads, and that can help the republican party, because they've been lagging behine democrats in fund-raising. lynn? >> tracie potts in washington. tracie, thank you. according to this morning's "washington post," taliban representatives and afghan president hamid karzai's government have begun secret high-level talks over ending the war. a deal that would put some taliban figures in the government. sources believe this is the first time that taliban representatives involved in these talks are fully authorized to speak for the afghan taliban organization based in pakistan. representatives for that group's leader have shunned talks in the past, insisting that all foreign

troops withdraw first. however, in these meetings, there has apparently been discussion of a withdrawal on an agreed timeline. meanwhile, yesterday marked a second day of violence in kandahar. a pair of explosions killed nine people. nearly two dozen others were hurt. in neighbors pakistan, gunmen have once again struck nato tankers heading into afghanistan. this time at least 25 oil tankers were torched. one driver was also shot dead. this marks the third major attack since a week ago when pakistan closed a border crossing into afghanistan. the closure was in protest of nato helicopter strikes in pakistan. it's unclear who is behind the latest attacks, although pakistan taliban have claimed the responsibility for similar attacks. and now here's a look at some other stories making news "early today" in america -- ishs nasty weather through the phoenix, arizona area and a shower of golf ball-sized hail.

one resident took this video of the hail storm. the large system dumped over an inch of rain in less than two hours causing severe flooding, downed power lines. in south carolina, from around the southeast competed in the bomb squad olympiad. olympic course, obstacle course including the 100 yard dash, running up and down a flight of stair, extracting an ied from a car and target shooting, all while wearing 70 pounds of equipment. the competition is for the officers to test their abilities in case of a real threat. a california couple is hoping in a they measure up in the world's tallest competition for the world's tallest couple. the man is 6'11", and his wife, 6'5". folks from guinness on hand to record their combined height. it no official word on if they were, indeed, the world's

tallest married couple. in pennsylvania, giant pumpkins are a tourist attraction at one family's home, because a man and his sons grew these supersized pumpkins. the largest one weighed over 1,000 pounds. the other, around 600. several others weighed 600. they're on display for visitors. and now for a look at your national and regional weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with the forecast. good morning, bill. looks like that couple was eating some of the pumpkin. get it? >> the giant pumpkin. oh! throw a bean stalk in there, too, why don't you? >> usually i leave the bad jokes to you, but aye figured i'd take this one. >> sure. sure lynn. chat about this amazing storm system in the southwest. those pick colors were incredible around phoenix. we just don't get hail storms like that that area. ten worts of hail in 50 years around phoenix. continues today. actually a good cluster of

thunderstorms just north of phoenix. if you're driving up to flagstaff, you could get into some of that early today. in los angeles, you're also getting wet weather. pinwheeling right over the top of you. here's high pressure building in from montana. misses this storm system. nothing to kick it out. ever so slowly opens up and weakens. as of right now you can see the moisture along the coast. even san diego, wet weather along the coastline. all the beaches from san diego up to santa barbara this morning are dealing with wet weather and rainfall. we had snow in the last couple of days in the sierra. actually oppressive snow. here the one radar image, too, that shows a blast of thunderstorm heading northwards up 17 heading up into the flagstaff area and the grand canyon today will have problem. temperatures are cool, too. watch out for the rain. the pacific northwest, you're looking gorgeous. that's a look at your wednesday forecast.

ill probably stay that way also near prescott, arizona. lynn, thursday forecast coming up. >> all right, bill. thank you. also tumming up, necessity sales improve, but luxury sales fall. earning money for your laptop. your early morning biz headlines are straight ahead. plus, tom hanks may be headed for another high-profile role. the rays are mad. the yankees pull the plug on a race and the heat big three is now the big two. you're watching "early today."

>> good morning, and welcome back to "early today." i'm lynn berry. here are some of your top headlines this morning -- the pakistani immigrant who tried to detonate a bomb in times square in may has been sentenced to life in prison. expressing no remorse over the

botched attempt, 31-year-old faisal shahzad yesterday warned americans to "brace yourself, because the war with muslims has just begun." a connecticut man could face the death penalty after being convicted of murdering a woman and her two daughters during a brutal home invasion in 2007. prosecutors say steven hayes and another ex-con beat the family's father with a baseball bat and sexually assaulted and strangled the mother before setting the family's house on fire. both daughters died of smoke inhalation. the second defendant goes on trial next year. three counties in hungary are in a state of emergency after a reservoir burst and swamped several villages with a toxic red sludge. at least four people were killed and dozens more injured, many with severe burns. a brazilian woman is recovering after a terrifying accident captured on a security

camera. the 44-year-old was hit by a speeding car and thrown in the air before landing in the street. amazingly, the victim survived with minor injuries to her arm and collarbone. nasa is going ahead with a mission to investigate the mystery of how mars lost its atmosphere. if the project goes according to planned, they will launch a spacecraft to the red planet in 2013. >> and now here's an early look at how wall street will kick off the day -- the dow opens at 10,944 after gaining 193 points yesterday. the s&p climbed 23 points. the nasdaq added 55. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei added 172 points, while in hong kong the hang seng rose 241. stocks soared to their highest level since may on tuesday, fueled by signs of strength in the economy and the renewed hope that more help is on the way. markets rallied in the start in response to japan's move to

slash interest rates. that sparked hopes that the federal reserve could step in here with stimulus here at home as early as next month. a better than expected report from the service sector added to the upbeat mood, further easing fears of a double-dip recession. fresh data on consumer spending is out this morning, and it looks like caution remains the name of the game. the back-to-school season saw an uptick in kids clothes and electrics while luxury spending suffered a drop. talbot shares were hit hard yesterday down nearly 15% after the retailer cut its third quarter forecast and announced plans to cut up to 17% of its stores. the treasury department estimates total losses from federal bailouts under the troubled asset relief program will total $29 billion. that's down from an earlier estimate of $66 billion. ford announced plans yesterday to eliminate more than a third of its lincoln dealers nationwide in an effort to revamp the brand.

keep an eye on umm brands. shares were lower in late trade after reporting a slight drop in u.s. profit. finally, cash for couch potatoes? that's right. a new monitoring service went to work this week in london putting people work watching hours of surveillance to help fight crime on their laptops. catching the thief in the act. doesn't sound like a bad deal. a bronx bomber benching, tampa makes plaid its new fad and the heat get ham strung. plus, the miami heat's dane dwyane wade shows why he's the new king of south beach. your early morning sports headlines are just ahead. we're still dealing with two slow-moving storm systems, one in new england and the other in california. your wednesday forecast is coming up. you're watching "early today." (announcer) you'd never wash your dishes in a dirty sink,

so why use a dirty dishwasher? hidden dirt can build up. for flawless results, use finish dishwasher cleaner to remove grease and limescale. and a cleaner dishwasher means amazing dishes. finish, the diamond standard. good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, late news out of england that nation story soccer team liverpool has been sold to the owners of the boston red sox for an undisclosed amount. meanwhile, after all the hype over the off-season acquisitions of the miami heat, last night the big three made their debut

for all of three minutes. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. good morning. a new era began last night for the miami heat, but just minutes into their preseason debut, the big three became the big two. three minutes in against the pistons, dwyane wade pulled up while chasing hamilton. he had to leave the game with a strained right hamstring and will return in a couple of weeks. now they've got some guy named lebron. he had 18. chris bosh added 20. it's only the preseason. don't hand them the trophy just yet. if yankees have made a big move. the manager has pulled a.j. burnett out of the starting rotation, making the $16 million paid pitcher the highest pitches in the league. . >> our plans are to go buy a three-man rotation. if we have to change that with the roster we have, it gives us the flexibility to do that. a.j. was outstanding for us last year in the playoffs. it's not easy.

there are tough decisions that you have to make. and you just make them. >> so the yankees will start cc sabathia tonight. againsts the twins. the phil's roy halladay faces wolf. and ap new look at tropicana field. >> during this sears you've seen the blackouts, whiteouts, we're going to plat out. >> the rays's manager wants everybody to wear plaid to the game. back in august, plaid jackets against the rangers. generated so much hype they want everybody to join the fun. mad for plaid. being around awful those retirement homes is wearing off on them. that's your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. "early today" sports is brought to you by just for men hair color. live forward. well, is mtv reviving a fan favorite with justin bieber as host? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead.

plus, with the weight of the world and his party's future squarely on his shoulders, the president shows his sense of humor is doing just fine. you're watching "early today."

well, good wednesday morning. thanks for joining us. areas of rain along the southern california coast and santa barbara into l.a. and down to

san diego showery-type weather continuing on and off during the morning today. as far as the northwest goes, dufl conditions today and into tomorrow, continuing pretty nice. enjoy it while it lasts. looks like it's getting a little more stormy towards the end of the weekend. a chance of wet weather and maybe a thunderstorm going into your thursday. if you're waging on ktv, news channel 21 in oregon if you're feeling adventurous, take a walk with the naturalist. 135 acres, learn all about your natural surroundings. that's your pacific event of the day. jut make sure you like the person you're walking with. >> always good. always helps. all right, bill, thank you. now here's a look at this morning's headlines in entertainment -- several big hollywood projects and actors are making news this week. despite reports that emma stone would play the red headed

spider-man love interest mary watson in the latest upcoming flick, she will instead play blonde haired love interest gwenn stacey. tom hanks is close to becoming the first cast member to sign up for "sleeping dogs," al and alan alda fans will get to see the former "m.a.s.h." star in two upcoming films. it's a comedy. elsewhere, a pivotal pistol whipping lawsuit against a club has been dropped. the lawyer who brought the suit has issued a written apology. finally, reports say mtv is bringing back that celebrity prank show "punked" with a new host -- justin bieber. i hope we're not being punked with that report.

>> yeah. >> bieber gets it. >> or bieber will be playing video games. >> there you go. and this now comes from the nation's capital that proved even the commander in chief isn't immune to the occasional malfunction. >> we cannot sustain -- oops. was that my -- oh, goodness. that's all right. all of you know who i am. >> the president was addressing an audience of fortune magazine's 300 top women. when that seal fell from the podium. he joke about it and moved on, but not before joking that somebody backstage was probably sweating bullets. i'm lynn berry and this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

who says royalty is stuffy? villagers in india got to see another side of the prince. loams showed off their culture while the prince joined in on a conga line. the reason for his visit was serious, to determine clean access to water. though prince can compare to this. a philippine flight attendant demonstrated safety procedures while dancing to lady gaga. the cabin crew got plenty of

attention while rocking the aisles with seat belts and life jackets. the small airline is looking to include even more in-flight fun for passengers. here is what you get when you mix bad blood with bad sportsmanship. during a soccer match between political rive ills in bolivia, the president's bolivia, a player in the match took against. the match was ugly. two players ejected but the president wasn't one of them. real classy. >> no one reacted on other team. it was, like, the president. what are you going to do? imagine if that happened here, in this country? >> i think secret service sort of surrounding making sure that wouldn't happen. time for an early look at some of the stories we'll follow throughout the day here on nbc -- the supreme court hears arguments in a high profile first amendment case. the court will examine the 2006 anti-gay protest by the west borrow baptist church of kansas and its leader at a military channel. president obama will

posthumously award the nation's highest military award to miller after saving teammates and several afghanistan national army soldiers. and a lot of buzz about a highly anticipated announcement from facebook. there have been rumors of a site redesign or an ipad app. all day long, you can stay on top of the very latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. and tonight be sure to watch brian williams with nbc "nightly news." and, finally, here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. the latest on the race to election day as the gop takes aim at the president with new campaign ads. and the oksana grigorieva speaks out about life with mel gibson. now keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and more. i'm lynn berry. thanks for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. have a good one.

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